Vatican Letter Says Norms On Priesthood Must Be "Faithfully Observed"

It appears that some of the American bishops who are already looking for wiggle room in the Vatican's latest directive regarding ordination of homosexuals forgot to read the cover letter accompanying the document:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - A cover letter accompanying the Vatican's instruction on homosexuality and the priesthood said the new norms must be "faithfully observed" and taken into account in the drafting or updating of each country's seminary guidelines.

The letter also made clear that, while the text does not apply to those already ordained, priests with homosexual tendencies should not have educational roles in seminaries.

The letter from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education went out to bishops in early November along with the nine-page instruction. The instruction was made public Nov. 29 but the cover letter was not; Catholic News Service obtained a copy of the letter.

It was signed by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the education congregation, and by Archbishop J. Michael Miller, congregation secretary.

The Vatican instruction said the church cannot allow priestly ordination of men who are active homosexuals, who have "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" or who support the "gay culture."

The accompanying letter said it should be "clear that the aforementioned norms are to be faithfully observed by all superiors" involved in admission of candidates to the priesthood.

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(emphasis added)

UPDATE:
Father Neuhaus, writing at the First Things blog "On the Square", has this to say about those who would look for "wiggle room":

Those who would nitpick the instruction into irrelevance raise numerous objections. They say, for instance, that it does not explain the difference between “transitory” and “deep-seated” homosexual tendencies. They should check a dictionary.

A canon lawyer says, “You can slice and dice this thing a thousand different ways.” Only if you are really determined to do so. Others observe that it is issued as a statement of the congregation and not directly by the pope. The fact is that the pope approved the document and ordered its release. There is no doubt about its binding authority.

Father James Martin, a Jesuit, is a more straightforward critic of the instruction. “An honest reading of the document shows that the Vatican is simply banning gays,” he said. “The ‘application’ of the document, even the portion of the document that says that rectors are ultimately responsible for their men, will be meaningless: No emotionally mature gay applicant these days will want to enter.” With respect to the “mature” gay, see the instruction on “delayed adolescence” — or, as it used to be termed in psychiatric circles, arrested adolescence.